Ignition
by snakeruler
Summary: A new student at Xavier Academy isn't all she seems to be.


Ignition/Part 1 In a dark, bleary, building where Mystique had been holding the Professor hostage, a confused girl wandered. She stumbled down the stairs to the basement, where she saw a man in a cage. He was completely bald and was sitting in a wheelchair. She was surprised to see him. She regained her composure and asked him a question.  
"Do you know where I can find Professor Xavier?"  
"Why do you want to find him?"  
"I need his help. He seems to be the only one that understands what I am going through."  
"If that is the case, I am Professor Xavier."  
"You? I'm sorry, but you don't look like a top mutant trainer."  
"I've been held here for days. I can't bend the bars with my mind."  
"Have you tried melting them?" She walked up to the bars, balled a hand into a fist and when she opened it back up, a fireball was there. She held it under the bars and they melted in seconds. She moved from bar to bar, melting a big enough hole for him to wheel through. "Your welcome."  
"That is an extraordinary power. What is your name?"  
"Lara." They went to the stairs, and Lara melted them to a point he could wheel up them. He searched for signs of the rest of the Academy, and located many of them near Lookout Point. They made their way there, slowly, as the Professor was still weak. They finally arrived. The Professor wheeled into the group. He talked for a minute while Lara waited in the trees. Scott got angry and grabbed the Professor, thinking it was Mystique again. Lara jumped out.  
"Don't even think about it!" she shouted, lighting her hands. He tried to hit her with his eye rays, but she dodged. Yet again, he shot rays at her. Yet they were going out of control. The only time anyone had seen that happen was when he was up against the Scarlet Witch. And she used mind control. When he finally gained control, he aimed, but she was gone. She was behind him and hit him at close range and he fainted.  
"You were using mind control," the Professor said.  
"Yes."  
"What is that all you can do?"  
"I can control things with my mind." She paused for a moment" I can read minds, too." Kitty walked over.  
"Kitty, can you show her somewhere to sleep?" "Certainly." As they walked, Kitty tried to make conversation.  
"So, where are you from?"  
"No where in particular."  
"How old are you?"  
"I'm not sure. No one ever told me my birthday."  
"Okay. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"  
"Only one that I consider real family."  
"Mom or Dad?" Lara snapped. She faced Kitty, and two fireballs came up in her hands.  
"Don't ever ask me about my parents. Get it?"  
"Yes."  
"Good." She balled her hands into fists to extinguish the flames. Ash dropped to the ground. They arrived in an area of trees and Lara flipped herself into the tree. Kitty walked away without another word.  
Later, in a private clump of trees, Scott, Jean Grey, Kitty, Kurt, and the Professor were all talking about the new arrival.  
"She seemed very cold," said Scott.  
"Her powers are strong, and it is highly probable she is hiding something from us," the Professor said. "I tried to read her mind, but all I could find were sadness and anger."  
"She seemed pretty violent to me," said Kitty." I asked her about her parents and she almost attacked me."  
"How so?"  
"She created two fireballs and told me never to ask her about her parents. She didn't hurt me; it was more like a threat."  
"Maybe she will adjust. Several people were like that when they first came here."  
Right before sunset Lara forced herself to sleep, as she did every night. Late in the night, someone crept into the glade. She was having a nightmare.  
"No! Just leave me alone! Please! Please, just go!" She jolted awake. Her eyes grew wide and she looked around her. "It's still dark. I not supposed to wake up when it's still dark."  
"Why not?" the figure asked.  
"Get away from me! It's too dark. I need some light," she whimpered. He lit a candle. It was Kurt.  
"What did you mean by 'not supposed to wake up when it's still dark'?" he asked.  
"I don't like the dark. No more questions, please."  
"Why don't you like the dark?"  
"Ask me one more question and your not going to like what will happen."  
"Why don't you like the dark?" he persecuted.  
"Okay, you asked for it. And if anyone asks it was your fault." She jumped out the tree and ran. Thunder shook the forest and it began to rain.  
  
Lara was soaking wet when she knocked on a door. Tabitha (Boom-Boom) answered it.  
"Lara?" Lara began to cry and put her arms around Tabitha.  
"It happened again, didn't it?" she asked and Lara nodded.  
  
Ignition/Part 2  
"You went to the X-Men?" Tabitha asked in awe.  
"Yes. Where else was I supposed to go?" Lara replied, almost screaming. "Back home where Dad can manipulate me some more? To Kris, who hates me so much he'd burry me alive as soon as see me? Or, maybe, I can crawl to the person who made it all this way."  
  
"Magneto."  
"Last I heard, the Brotherhood, who you chose to join and used to work for Magneto, were trying to destroy him! That is the exact same thing I'm trying to do!"  
"I got the connections. Mystique may hate me, but I have the respect of the Brotherhood. I can get you in."  
"You can do that?"  
"Of course, anything for my baby sister."  
"I'd hardly say baby. After all, I was only born 4 minutes after you."  
Late that night there was a note tipping of the X-Men that the Brotherhood was training their new member in Bayville Park. At the same time, the Brotherhood got a note saying the X-Men were looking for a fight. Both teams arrived at the same time. Lara and Tabitha were ready.  
Seated on a bench, they started talking.  
"That was easy," Lara said. "You'd think it would take more than an anonymous note to get the X-Men to an abandoned park."  
"I'd say the same thing about the Brotherhood," Boom-Boom replied. This tested both side's patience. Scarlet Witch (Wanda) stepped forward and made the bench rise in preparation to throw it. Lara put a hand on it and it lowered back down. All eyes grew wide. Wanda tried to make a tree fall over onto them, but Lara pushed it back into place. Lara stood up and faced Wanda. Two fireballs burst in her hands. Wanda's eyes flashed in fear. She tried to extinguish them but couldn't.  
"Don't bother trying to extinguish them. Only I can." She threw them. The Scarlet Witch tried with all her might to turn them around, but the pressure of Lara's mind kept them moving. She barely looked like she was trying. She pulled them back.  
"We really shouldn't fight, you know," she began, but Wanda tried to lift her off the ground. Lara allowed herself to rise several feet, and then decidedly pushed herself back down. "We want the same thing. We want revenge on the one person who has made our lives a living Hell." Wanda's eyes grew wide.  
"You will help me?" No one had ever heard her talk in a sentence.  
"He made you grow up without a family by abandoning you. He made me grow up without a family by killing my Mother, twisting my Father's mind, and pitting my own brother against me." She glared at Lance. "These facts have not only destroyed my life, they have twisted my mind. If your Father had sat in your room in the dark, waiting for you to move every single night, you'd be afraid of the dark too." Kurt put a hand to his mouth, now understanding why she ran away. Toad leaped in front of Wanda.  
"You want revenge on Magneto, just as we do. You can come with us and destroy him, because the X-Men won't strike him first." Lara took a step forward.  
"What is your name?" Wanda asked.  
Kurt opened his mouth to say her name, but a force in his mind wouldn't allow it.  
"Ignition," she replied, while a smile played on her lips. She turned around and began to throw fireballs at the X-Men. When she finally turned back to the Brotherhood, she said, "Consider that my first act of loyalty." The brotherhood, Lara among them went back to a large apartment in the city. When they arrived, it seemed there was only one room left, but two people to house.  
"You have it," Boom-Boom said graciously.  
"I'd rather sleep in the attic," was the only reply she received. Lara walked away and found the staircase to the attic.  
"There is no where to sleep up here," Tabitha pointed out. Boxes moved aside to make a large space.  
"It is too cold. And dark, you hate the dark." Lara lit a fireball that added warmth and lit the whole room.  
"Fine, I'll take the warm room with the nice bed while you get to sleep on the cold, hard ground." A mattress came up the stairs by itself.  
"You stole my mattress?"  
"No, why would I steal your mattress? I stole Lance's. I can't stand him and I don't think you can, either." She lies down and fell asleep, a fireball still flaming in her hand. Boom-Boom walked away, knowing it would contain itself during the night.  
The next morning, Lara woke early and began making breakfast. When everyone else woke up, food was on the table. Toad ate without a word, or a thank you, as did the Blob. Lance looked at her strangely for a minute, and then sat down to eat. Boom-Boom thanked her graciously, and ate hurriedly. The real surprise was when Wanda came in. She walked over and began to help wash the dishes. Lara looked at her angrily for a moment, then raised her eyebrows and nodded pointedly at the empty seat at the table. Wanda sat down, looking hurt, but Tabitha explained to her what had happened and why.  
"Our Father decided only to train one of his three children. His oldest son, Kris, was exactly like him in mind, body and temper. Kris was too strong willed to answer to anyone other than our father, and that would be exactly what would happen if he had been trained. I was strong willed, too, but my powers weren't as strong as my twin, Lara. I throw bombs, that's all. She throws fireballs and can control things with her mind. So he began to train her. She was pampered. I got away with many things, because I was his second choice. But my brother was not so lucky. Lara was never given anything to do other than train. Kris had to do almost every chore in the house; with the exception of the few I was given. He didn't like the injustice. One day he attacked Lara and she put him in the hospital, but she ended up there too. She doesn't like anyone trying to do anything while she is around. In her mind, she is doing an infinite amount of work to make up for those years she did nothing. When we ran away when we were twelve, she did everything. Finding transportation and shelter and food, working so we had money, everything that involved anything physical. It is best not to annoy her when she is in a working mood. It passes, like everything else. She gets violent if anyone interrupts her."  
Lara, who had finished washing dishes, started tearing open cabinets in search of cleaning supplies. When she found a rag and two unmarked bottles, she strutted off to clean.  
"This house will be spotless by the end of the day," Boom-Boom finished. "I guarantee it." It was. The wallpaper was torn off, revealing off-white paint. The floors were swept clean of the millions of dust bunnies. The old stains in the furniture were gone. From the outside, the house looked normal. Inside, it was like stepping into Xavier Academy. Everyone was impressed by her initiative.  
"Maybe you'll be helpful in other areas besides revenge on Magneto." Lance was the only one who didn't thank her.  
Late that night, a figure appeared in a strange yard. Two dogs were tethered. The figure advanced toward them. A spark came up and melted the chains. Then the figure and the dogs were gone.  
Inside the apartment, Boom-Boom asked, "I wonder where Ignition went."  
"I knew she was a traitor!" Lance shouted. "I bet you she is back with the X-Men spilling our secrets!"  
"I doubt it," said a voice from behind them. Ignition had just walked in. "I was on a rescue mission."  
"You got them?" Boom-Boom asked in wonder. "He always caught me."  
Lara looked at the Brotherhood. "If they can't stay, I can't."  
"You think we can house any more people?"  
"People? Who said anything about people?" Two gigantic dogs on leashes were pulled into the house. "Meet King and Paprika. I lived for four years without them and I'm not going to anymore. I bet you anything he was mistreating them."  
"Cool!" the Blob said and advanced. Both dogs snarled, baring their teeth. He backed off.  
"They don't like people. I trained them as attack dogs. Just be happy they didn't open their mouths."  
"Why?" asked Toad, who had been increasingly nervous since the dogs walked in.  
"You want to see?" Several cautious nods and several violent nos. "Okay then. Stand back. King, Paprika, go ahead." Both dogs opened their mouths. The larger's, King's, breathe froze a chair. Paprika lit the empty pizza box that was on the ground ablaze and it was ash in seconds. "Their owners were glad to be rid of them, as you can see." Everyone had wide eyes. "What, you didn't think humans were the only species with mutants, did you? See how thin they are? Father hasn't been feeding them well."  
"He probably couldn't get close. You know how much they hate him," Boom-Boom replied.  
"We strike tomorrow," said Lance, trying to put off the subject of the dogs as long as possible.  
"So soon?" asked Boom-Boom.  
"The sooner, the better," both Lara and Wanda said at the same time. The shared a smile.  
  
Ignition/Part 3  
  
The next morning, the Brotherhood were preparing to go. They had found the whereabouts, of Magneto. But they didn't know that the X-Men were preparing to leave as well.  
They arrived at an empty warehouse. Lara searched the building for Magneto and located him in the basement. She tapped Wanda on the shoulder and motioned to the basement door. They left without telling the others. They were all busy with the X-Men, who had appeared to stop them.  
Upon seeing Wanda and Lara, Magneto became smug. "They sent you two to deal with me? Who do you think you are?"  
Wanda opened her mouth, but Lara spoke first. "We're two girls you thought you got rid of a long time ago." She brought up two fireballs and threw. When he dodged, she slammed him against a wall. "Not only that, but we're two pissed off girls whose lives were miserable because of you!" She backed off. She stood next to her two dogs and Wanda. "Your turn."  
"It seems you have two pesky little girls that need dealing with, Magneto," said a voice behind them. Lara froze. She knew that spine chilling voice all too well.  
"I'm not turning around, so get in front of me," she ordered. Surprisingly, he did. It was Pyro, Magneto's servant of the flames. Her eyes narrowed. "Light up, I dare you." Not many mutants would say that to another. He took her at her word. The flames reached for her, but couldn't get closer than two feet. They began to subside, finally going out all together. "Maybe that training was too good."  
"You little brat!" he yelled, lunging at her. "Why did I choose you to train?"  
"Because, I reminded you of you," Lara replied. "Scarlet Witch, deal with Magneto. I have enough to deal with here. I'll join you after he's disposed of."  
"Disposed of? Lara, I trained you. Now listen to me and get over here so I can punish you." She didn't move but muttered something. "Lara, obey me. I am your Father and you are supposed to listen to me."  
"My name is Ignition!" This started as a whisper, but grew into a scream. Even the fighters upstairs heard it and came running. She gathered two fireballs. "You are no Father to me." She threw, and as soon as they were out of her hands, new ones replaced them. "Pitting my own brother against me! Turning to Magneto! Making my life a living Hell! Keeping my pride and joy from me." As she said each of these, more fireballs emitted from her hands and threw themselves at him. "You are no Father to me!" He fell to the ground. The Brotherhood and the X-Men had arrived. Lara stood over her Father, as did Wanda to hers. Neither were dead, only on the ground and shocked. The Brotherhood gathered behind Wanda. Lara knew who they valued. She had disposed of who they wanted. Only two people were behind Lara. Kurt and Tabitha. Kurt had zapped there while no one was looking. Tabitha had been there all along. Lara cracked her neck.  
"Lara, you let your anger get the best of you," the professor began.  
"I let my anger have its way. My anger was my life." She knelt and bound Pyro, while Wanda did the same to Magneto. "My anger ruled me. My anger and my fear." She looked at the fuse box and the power went out. Kurt laughed. "My fear is no longer my enemy. Ask Kurt"  
"The reason she left was I scared her. She didn't like the dark and I snuck up on her."  
"What are we talking in now?" Lara asked. "The dark. My father would sit in the dark waiting for me to move as I slept. If I did, he would wake me up to train me. I always thought that if it was dark, he was there waiting for me. He always trained me harder at night. I learned to fear the dark and what it held."  
"But it is not a good idea to let your fear and anger control you like that," the Professor insisted.  
"You call what I just did fear and anger? Fear, maybe, but none of you have seen me angry."  
"She put our older brother in the hospital and he had to have his left arm amputated. She charred it to the bone," Boom-Boom reminisculed.  
"None of you really know what loyalty means," Lara said, off topic. "Loyalty for you is helping your team without hurting them. Loyalty is doing anything to help them, even if it costs them or you."  
"Loyalty," said a cold voice behind them. "Is standing by your family? Forever." Everyone turned. It was Quicksilver.  
"Then why don't you stand by your sister?" Lara asked.  
"Pedro," Wanda said with hatred.  
"Because my Father was more important to me than my bratty little sister, who only cared about herself." He ran to the fuse box and lit everything up, running right past his father twice.  
"I hope you understand, your puny attempt at a rescue mission won't work," Lara said. "I can read your every thought."  
"She beat me," Wanda admitted.  
"She beat you?" he asked in fear.  
"That's right. And I'll beat you, too, if you find it necessary to struggle." She jumped, down a flip over him, landing behind him. She tied him up with speed to rival his own. "Try getting out of that." He snarled. "This was too easy."  
That night, Lara went back with the Brotherhood. She was sitting in the attic, without a light, when she heard a snap.  
"Kurt, you really shouldn't sneak up on people."  
"You're sitting in the dark, why?"  
"Let's put it this way. Because I can."  
"Good answer. I'd like some light. I want to talk to you." She lit up a hand. "Thanks. I was meaning to ask you. How do you have more than one power?"  
"I'm kind of a mutant among mutants. My Mother's side of the family has been researching it for years. We have discovered that there is a certain defect some mutants have. It's called the R-Gene. If someone who carries it has children with someone else who does. One of their children, normally the oldest or the youngest, will inherit the powers of his or her parents. My family has been trying to create someone like me for a while. I'll just say I haven't revealed all of my powers."  
"Oh, great. What else can you do?"  
"Maybe you'll find out, maybe you won't." She put on her backpack, drew her dogs close and was gone. 


End file.
